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* In the book and film of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry distracts some Ministry workers with a rambunctious Weasley toy in order to sneak into Umbridge's office. Justified, both because that's what the toy was built for and because, apparently, the Ministry sees that sort of thing fairly often.

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* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Hermione instructs Harry and Ron to cause mayhem in Snape's class to distract him while she steals ingredients for Polyjuice Potion. They throw a firework into a cauldron.
**
In the book and film of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry distracts some Ministry workers with a rambunctious Weasley toy in order to sneak into Umbridge's office. Justified, both because that's what the toy was built for and because, apparently, the Ministry sees that sort of thing fairly often.
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* ''Series/ChroniclesOfNarniaBBC'': In ''The Silver Chair'', just before they disappear under the rock, Puddleglum throws his hat away when they are pursued by the giants and the hounds, and one hound is distracted by it.
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* In ''Literature/{{Rubbernecker}}'', Patrick is snooping in the dissection room when someone else walks in and turns the lights on before Patrick can see who they are. Patrick is afraid whoever it is is the murderer, so he throws his trainer across the room and then leaves while the person is following the sound.

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* In ''Film/JurassicPark,'' Lex uses something like this to draw a Velociraptor's attention away from Tim (and very bravely, closer to herself).
** Earlier in the middle of the film, Alan tries to lure the Tyrannosaurus away from the kids - who were trapped in one of the cars that is attacked by the same dinosaur - with a torch flare. This almost works, until Ian Malcolm intervenes with another flare.

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* ''Film/JurassicPark'':
**
In ''Film/JurassicPark,'' the middle of the film, Alan tries to lure the Tyrannosaurus away from the kids -- who were trapped in one of the cars that is attacked by the same dinosaur -- with a torch flare. This almost works, until Ian Malcolm intervenes with another flare.
** Later,
Lex uses something like this to draw a Velociraptor's attention away from Tim (and very bravely, closer to herself).
** Earlier in the middle of the film, Alan tries to lure the Tyrannosaurus away from the kids - who were trapped in one of the cars that is attacked by the same dinosaur - with a torch flare. This almost works, until Ian Malcolm intervenes with another flare.
herself).



* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'': Obi-Wan uses the Force to pop a gasket to distract two stormtroopers blocking his exit from the tractor beam control room, allowing him to sneak away.

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* ''Franchise/StarWars: ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}'': [=RoboCop=] opens the fight in the abandoned factory by throwing a piece of trash to distract the bad guys. They start firing in the wrong direction, and the cyborg uses this to gun down one of them.
-->'''[=RoboCop=]:''' Looking for me?
* ''Franchise/StarWars,
Film/ANewHope'': Obi-Wan uses the Force to pop a gasket to distract two stormtroopers blocking his exit from the tractor beam control room, allowing him to sneak away.
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* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'''s "Lyoko Minus One" has Odd pick up a small rock to throw away from himself in order to get away from a Tarantula to help Aelita. Luckily, the monster shoots it instead of him.
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* ''WesternAnimation/AceVenturaTheAnimatedSeries'': Toyed with -- Ace Ventura tries this by throwing a rock to distract the Burly Guard. The Guard looks over at the sound, ''turns to where the rock came from'' and shouts "I know you're over there and I'm coming to get you!" OhCrap!

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* ''WesternAnimation/AceVenturaTheAnimatedSeries'': Toyed with in ''Film/AceVentura: The Animated Series'' -- Ace Ventura tries this by throwing a rock to distract the Burly Guard. The Guard looks over at the sound, ''turns to where the rock came from'' and shouts "I know you're over there and I'm coming to get you!" OhCrap!you!"



* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episodes.
** "The Dreadful Doll". Hadji throws a rock to distract Korbay so Jonny can free Race Bannon.
** "Terror Island". Race Bannon throws a coin to distract some guards.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E14StrangerThanFanFiction Stranger Than Fan Fiction]]": While he and Rainbow Dash are Caballeron's prisoners, Quibble Pants throws a pin away to make a suspicious noise, alerting the goons. Quibble then pretends that it's Daring Do coming to rescue them. It works, and they disperse in search of their nemesis. As Quibble points out, they're stupid enough to leave nopony looking after the captives.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', "Imitation Krabs": to get Mr. Krabs out of the way, Plankton throws a penny, and the greedy Krabs follows it as it rolls out the front door. Unfortunately, the penny eventually rolls back, leading Krabs to Plankton and his robotic Krabs imposter.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E7DuelOfTheDroids Duel of the Droids]]" Ahsoka escapes Grievous' notice (at first) be making a box fall further into the room she's hiding in with the Force, so Grievous walks past her hiding place.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', "The Giant Bacteria", villain Morbulus does a variant of this trope wherein he is dropped in the water and [[GivingThemTheStrip takes off his clothes]], then reassembles them to make it look like he's still in them. While the Enforcers are fishing what they think is his body out of the water, he is able to slip away in his underwear unnoticed.

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* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episodes.
''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'':
** In "The Dreadful Doll". Doll", Hadji throws a rock to distract Korbay so Jonny can free Race Bannon.
** In "Terror Island". Island", Race Bannon throws a coin to distract some guards.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E14StrangerThanFanFiction Stranger Than Fan Fiction]]": While Fiction]]", while he and Rainbow Dash are Caballeron's prisoners, Quibble Pants throws a pin away to make a suspicious noise, alerting the goons. Quibble then pretends that it's Daring Do coming to rescue them. It works, and they disperse in search of their nemesis. As Quibble points out, they're stupid enough to leave nopony looking after the captives.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', "Imitation Krabs": ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E4DyingForPieImitationKrabs Imitation Krabs]]", to get Mr. Krabs out of the way, Plankton throws a penny, and the greedy Krabs follows it as it rolls out the front door. Unfortunately, the penny eventually rolls back, leading Krabs to Plankton and his robotic Krabs imposter.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E7DuelOfTheDroids Duel of the Droids]]" Droids]]", Ahsoka escapes Grievous' notice (at first) be making a box fall further into the room she's hiding in with the Force, so Grievous walks past her hiding place.
* In one the ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' episode of ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', "The Giant Bacteria", the villain Morbulus does a variant of this trope wherein he is dropped in the water and [[GivingThemTheStrip takes off his clothes]], then reassembles them to make it look like he's still in them. While the Enforcers are fishing what they think is his body out of the water, he is able to slip away in his underwear unnoticed.
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added example from Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

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* ''VideoGame/ShadowGambitTheCursedCrew'': {{Mooks}} can be temporarily distracted by throwing a coin, or firecrackers. Quentin can throw his golden skull on the ground, and a mook who sees it will walk towards it to investigate.
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Updating Link


* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim lets go of his whistling staff and kicks it to ensure it spins to make its signature sound in the middle of attacking BlindWeaponmaster Edmund Dorrance, which allows him to misdirect his larger, stronger better-trained opponent enough to allow Tim to kick him out a window.

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* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Tim lets go of his whistling staff and kicks it to ensure it spins to make its signature sound in the middle of attacking BlindWeaponmaster Edmund Dorrance, which allows him to misdirect his larger, stronger better-trained opponent enough to allow Tim to kick him out a window.

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart '', Ichikawa tosses ''his bike'' down a hill as a distraction to stop Nanjou from pressuring Yamada into giving him her LINE, which successfully divides the two and gets ''a lot'' of people's attention when the bike falls into a drainage ditch.
[[/folder]]



* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim lets go of his whistling staff and kicks it to ensure it spins to make its signature sound in the middle of attacking BlindWeaponmaster Edmund Dorrance, which allows him to misdirect his larger, stronger better trained opponent enough to allow Tim to kick him out a window.

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* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim lets go of his whistling staff and kicks it to ensure it spins to make its signature sound in the middle of attacking BlindWeaponmaster Edmund Dorrance, which allows him to misdirect his larger, stronger better trained better-trained opponent enough to allow Tim to kick him out a window.
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* ''ComicBook/ZatannaEverydayMagic'': Nimue throws the (actually fake) MacGuffin toward Zatanna in order to distract her while she uses the opportunity to stab her with a [[MagicTool magic absorption needle]] (the ''real'' MacGuffin).
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* Variant: Franchise/{{Batman}} sometimes rolls a marble from his utility belt down a flight of stairs to simulate the sound of descending footsteps.
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* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Luke Skywalker uses the Force to make a guard think he heard a noise, which allows the group he's with to sneak past.

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* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Luke Skywalker uses the Force to make a guard think he heard a noise, which allows the group he's with to sneak past. A much more {{Justified|Trope}} example than most, as he's actively altering the guy's mind rather than merely hoping that he's easily-distracted.
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Easy: you pick up a rock and toss it past him. When it lands, the noise will catch his attention, and he'll go to investigate, giving you ample time to slip past. This trick is what we call Throwing the Distraction. Alternatively if you're making an action movie, you can pass on the low budget rock and use a [[StuffBlowingUp grandiose explosion]] or a [[HollywoodFire massive fire]] instead. It's less likely to be dismissed and looks cooler.

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Easy: you pick up a rock rock, a coin, a bottle, or some other nearby object capable of making a noticeable sound when it hits something and toss it past him. When it lands, the noise will catch his attention, and he'll go to investigate, giving you ample time to slip past. This trick is what we call Throwing the Distraction. Alternatively if you're making an action movie, you can pass on the low budget rock and use a [[StuffBlowingUp grandiose explosion]] or a [[HollywoodFire massive fire]] instead. It's less likely to be dismissed and looks cooler.
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* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' has rocks Aloy can throw to distract enemies and draw them closer to her for stealth takedowns or further away to get past them. Some enemy bases also have alarms that opponents will activate if they spot you and get back to it before you stop them, but Aloy can also set it off herself in order to draw all her opponents to the same location.

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Crosswicking.


* ''Film/ANewHope'': Obi-Wan uses the Force to pop a gasket to distract two stormtroopers blocking his exit from the tractor beam control room, allowing him to sneak away.



* ''Film/{{Predator}}'': During the final confrontation with the Predator, already hard to spot thanks to the mud covering him, Dutch throws a rock to distract the alien hunter and gets a chance to spear him.
* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'': Obi-Wan uses the Force to pop a gasket to distract two stormtroopers blocking his exit from the tractor beam control room, allowing him to sneak away.



* ''Film/Water1985'': Creator/MichaelCaine's character sees a mercenary attaching limpet mines to the oil well, so he throws a bolt, then sneaks up behind the mercenary while he's pointing a gun in that direction and hooks a crane hook into his belt, lifting him into the air.

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* ''Film/Water1985'': ''Film/{{Water|1985}}'': Creator/MichaelCaine's character sees a mercenary attaching limpet mines to the oil well, so he throws a bolt, then sneaks up behind the mercenary while he's pointing a gun in that direction and hooks a crane hook into his belt, lifting him into the air.



[[folder:Web Comics]]

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[[folder:Web Comics]][[folder:Webcomics]]



* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinotrux}} has Ty throw a small bolt to distract Scraptool guards. As they are scrap collectors easily DistractedByTheShiny, they aren't going to investigate a suspicious noise, they are going to fetch the extremely attractive spare part.

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinotrux}} ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinotrux}}'' has Ty throw a small bolt to distract Scraptool guards. As they are scrap collectors easily DistractedByTheShiny, they aren't going to investigate a suspicious noise, they are going to fetch the extremely attractive spare part.



* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E7DuelOfTheDroids Duel of the Droids]]" Ahsoka escapes Grievous' notice (at first) be making a box fall further into the room she's hiding in with the force, so Grievous walks past her hiding place.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', "The Giant Bacteria," villain Morbulus does a variant of this trope wherein he is dropped in the water and [[GivingThemTheStrip takes off his clothes]], then reassembles them to make it look like he's still in them. While the Enforcers are fishing what they think is his body out of the water, he is able to slip away in his underwear unnoticed.

to:

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E7DuelOfTheDroids Duel of the Droids]]" Ahsoka escapes Grievous' notice (at first) be making a box fall further into the room she's hiding in with the force, Force, so Grievous walks past her hiding place.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', "The Giant Bacteria," Bacteria", villain Morbulus does a variant of this trope wherein he is dropped in the water and [[GivingThemTheStrip takes off his clothes]], then reassembles them to make it look like he's still in them. While the Enforcers are fishing what they think is his body out of the water, he is able to slip away in his underwear unnoticed.
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[[caption-width-right:350:[-So simple, even a ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros princess]]'' can do it.-] ]]

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[[caption-width-right:350:[-So simple, even a ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros princess]]'' can do it.-] ]]

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